Apparatus for forming tubular articles



y 1954 G. G. WHYTLAW APPARATUS FOR FORMING TUBULAR ARTICLES OriginalFiled July 18, 1944 INVENTOR.

Patented May 25, 1 954 APPARATUS FOR FORMING TUBULAR ARTICLES Graeme G.Whytlaw, Swarthmore, Pa., assignor 'to American Viscose Corporation,Wilmington,

Del., a corporation of Delaware Original application July 18, 1944,Serial No. 545,504. Divided and this application'July 13,

1950, Serial No. 173,565

This invention relates to the production of a continuous tubular articlefrom a fiat sheet.- It is' particularly concerned with the production oftubes of paper for wrapping wound packages oftextile materials; such asrayon cakes, cones,-or the like, preparatory to liquid treatment of suchwound packages. However, it is applicable as well' to the formation oftubes from a sheet or web of paper, textile fabrics, metal foils, orother flexible materials for any use or purpose whatsoever. Thisapplication is a division of 'copending application Serial No. 545,504,filed July 18, "1944, now Patent N. 2,631,509, patented Marchl'l, 1953.

In accordance with the present invention, a sheet of a flexible materialis guided so that one of its lateral edges is lappedover the oppositelateral edge to form a hollow tube and a narrow strip or thread of a'thermosensitive material is directed between the overlapped portions ofthe material and these portions are then subjected to heat and pressureto cement the lapped joint. The invention is of special advantage whenspecifically modified for the continuous production of tubular articles.I

In the drawing which is illustrative of the invention- A I.

Figure 1 is a planview of a preferred embodiment of the invention;Figure 2 is a cross-section on'line 11-11 of Figure 4; V I

Figure 3is a side elevation; and A A Figure 4 is a bottom viewof oneofthe guiding elements of Figure 1. f A

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the apparatus comprises a supply roll 2 fora continuous sheet of the flexiblematerial tobe formed into a tube,which, in the specific instance herein described, happens to be paper.From the supply roll, the paper- 3 'ma'y" pass between slittingmechanism which may comprise tworolls 4 and 5, one or both of which isprovided with suitably arranged knives '6.'to slit the paperlongitudinally with parallel rows'of'slits' I, 'so' that those in anyone roware offset from'thos'e in thejnext adjacent row. The rolls '4 and5 maybe driven by means (not shown) suitably synchronized with thetake-up. r v

.Azfter the'paper sheet has been slitted as describedabovait-isfedcontinuously over a guide or inner circular sleeve -8 andsimultaneously through a-forming guide or outer circular sleeve 9 intowhich the-sleeve 8 preferably extends. The outer periphery of innersleeve 8 is radially spaced from the internal surface a of the guide orouter' sleeve *9 to form -an'annular path-for 8 Claims. (01. 93--82) theflexed sheet. Sleeve 9 is mounted on bracket [8 and is-substantiallycircular in shape through out its length except that it is desirablyflared at its forward end to enhance forming and guiding of the sheet.Inner sleeve 8 is entirely mounted on a bracket l I which is locatedpreferably in advance of'the forward edge of sleeve 9 and in a cut awayor truncated area- 30; of the sleeve. In order to facilitate properoverlapping of the edges of the sheet anarea or tongue i2 of innersleeve 8 extends around a part of the corresponding area I3 of thesleeve andis held in radial spaced relation thereto to form a spacedoverlapping guide for the sheet. The area i2 is cut back at M so that itdoes not thereafter overlap the opposite edge of the sleeve and in thepreferred form the trailing edge of the sleeve is cut away at l5 toprovide an opening or aperture for a purpose to be describedhereinafter.

The outer sleeve 9 is cut away at 16 in alignment with the cut awayportion l5 of sleeve 8 to permit a heated drum or roll I! mountedoutside-the sleeves to cooperate with a pressure roll I 8 mounted insidethe inner sleeve '8 in alignment with notches I5 and [6. Pressure roll18 is supported on an arm l9 which extends through the bore of sleeve 8and may be mounted in ad.- vance of the sleeve in any suitable mannersuch as on member ll. tween the roll I1 and the pressure roll I8 issupplied by means of an extension spring 28 likewise positioned inadvance of sleeve 9.

A thread or narrow strip 2| of thermosensitive material passes through atension device 22 and a guiding pulley 23 and between the overlappededge portions of the flexible sheet as shown in Figure 3, until itfinally passes between therolls I! and I8 where the heat and pressurerender it adhesive to bond the overlapped edges of the sheet 3, therebyforming the tube 3A which proceeds under a bail or rod 24 and to thetake-up 25 which may be rotated by any suitable means (not shown).

While the. apparatus as shown includes the slitting devices 4, 5, thismay be omitted entirely, orfit maybe arranged between the discharge sideof the guides 8 and 9 and the take-up 25. For certain purposes it may bedesired to replace such means with a perforating means.

The thread or strip 2| may be composed of any material, thermoplastic oreven thermosetting' 'acrylonitrile, after-chlorinated vinyl polymers orSuitable sealing pressure be- 506,526, filed October copolymers,polyvinylidene chloride; also acrylic Q and methacrylic acid esterresins, such as polymerized methyl methacrylate; nylons; cellulosederivatives, such as ethyl cellulose and so onf The present inventionhas numerous advantages in that the messiness that accompanies theapplication of liquid adhesives is entirely" avoided. The strip 2! isreadily controlled reliably, so that it cannot escape-from its rela--tionship between the overlapped edge of the" sheet to be bonded beforeitsactivation to an adhesive condition. In addition,-, the useof a.narrow continuous thread or strip provides" a simple way of controllingthe amount of adhesive and the width of bondinglayer' in the product,which makes it possible to limit the change in liquid permeability ofthe bonded areas of the sheet to a minimum, or to control it to provideany predetermined change in permeability, depending upon the: ultimateuse to which the product is intended to be put;

The inventionis of special advantage when applied to the production ofliquid-permeable paper wrappers for woundcakes of rayon resulting fromthe collection of freshly spun filaments'in centrifugal buckets: Suchwrappers and their use is disclosedand claimed in the copendingapplicationfor United States Letters,

Patent of Decker and Spangler, Serial No. 16, 1943 now Patent 2,382,400.Afterthe tubular wrapper is collected on-the take-up 25,-;it needsmerely to be cut to the desired length-to provide the final wrapper ofsleeve-likeiiorm;

It is to be; understood :that changes and variationsmay, be made withoutdeparting .irom the! spirit and scoperof-the invention as defined by theappended claims; In the claims, the term strip is intended in a genericsense to comprehend monofilament or multifilament threads as well asribbons or bands of slight or considerable width. Similarly, tubularand. tube isnot to be restricted to a-hollow cylindrical article, butmay include-anhollow article of any crosssection.

I claim.

1. Apparatus for producing-a tubular element from a flexiblesheetcomprising means for draw-- ingthe sheet continuously;through apath,'means along the path .forslittingthe sheet, guide means along thepathiionformingthe sheet intotubular shape-andv arrangecllto. lapone-yedgenof 'thesheet over the opposite edge-thereof, means in:advanceof the guide: means: for directing; a strip. ofthermosensitivematerial between the overlapped edges, means. fortensio'ning the strip, means adjacentthe..discharge side of the guidemeans and in substantial alignment withlthestrip-di rectingn means for.subjecting. the overlapped edges with :the strip; there'oetween,.tojheat and pressure, and-. means -for winding the" tubular article inflattened form.

2; Apparatus for producingfaitubular element from: aflexible sheetvcomprising. means for drawing thesheet continuously. through a path;guide means along the path: for 'forming'xthe sheet into tubular shape Land arranged i tot/lap one edge of thesheet'lover the. opposite. edgethereof, said guide -means. comprising: two generally concentric:members: having. an approxi-- mately annular passagetherebetween, saidinside member having-ga substantially circular hollow trailing edgeandhaving a split truncated hollow leading. edge, a tongue forming one 1terminus of said leading: edge. and overlapping in radially v spacedrelation the opposite terminus of the leading edge, means in advance ofthe guide means for directing a strip of thermosensitive materialbetweenithe overlapped'edges, means for tensionmg thestrip, andr'ollmeans adj acent the discharge side of the guide means and in substantialalignment with the strip-directing means for subjecting the overlappededges with thestrip'therebetween to heat and pressure, said rol-l'meanscomprising a pair of adjacent rolls betweenwhich the overlapped edgespass and meansior-- heating one of the rolls.

3; A" fOIl'l'lZlIIgigllld assembly for producing a tubular element froma sheet travelling continuouslythrougliapath comprising a first outercircular. slevetl'i-rough which the sheet passes, a member for'rigidl'y'supporting said first sleeve insaid path, a second inner circular sleeveover which the sheet passes said second sleeve extending; into the borea of v the first sleeve, means for rig-idly. supporting; the secondsleeve in said pathin-advance of saidfirstsleeve-to form afixed annularpassage-for the-sheet between-the first and second sleeves, and. meansalong said path in advance of saidisleevesfor slitting the. sheet.

4. A forming. guide assemblye inaccordance with claim 3havingeasealing.member extending, through the second inner-sleeve-toeapoint-adjacent. the rear terminusthereof.

5a A: forming guide: assembly in accordance with claim 3' inwhich the'inner-sleeve extends in advance of the: outersleeve :toform a -trun--cated'forward shellto guidethesheetwver the inner sleeve support.

6. A forming. guide assembly. in accordance with claim 5 having asealing member extending through the second innersleeveto. a point ad--jacent the rear terminus-thereof, a sealinghead on said member anda-su-pportv-forsaidflmember in front of theoutersleeve and-below-thetruncated. portionof the-inner sleeve.

7. A forminge guide-assembly: in accordance with claim 3 having apressuresealingemember:

extending through the inner; sleevewto apoint adjacent the rear terminusof the inner-sleeve a sealing headecarried byvsaid member adjacent theterminus of said outer sleeve, ansecond seal in'g head cooperatingw-ith:saictfirst sealing; head positioned outside the tubular element, and

means associated. with-said: sealing. member for applying? sealinpressure-to the tubular element between the sealing heads. I

8-. A forming guide-assembly iii-accordance with claim- 3' in ewhich theslitting means com prises a roller having apluralityeof'axiallyispacedstaggered knives around its periphery:

References Cited in thmfile or this patent

